Jordan Mailata keeps his eyes on the prize

By Nick FierroOf The Morning Call

Thursday

Jun 13, 2019 at 5:48 PM

The intriguing offensive tackle says the difference from being a rookie to his second year is like 'day and night.'

PHILADELPHIA — The good news for Philadelphia Eagles fans who long to see massive rugby star-turned reserve offensive tackle Jordan Mailata plow through a wall at the goal line with the football in his grasp for a touchdown is that thought is the furthest thing from Mailata’s mind.

And really, so is everything else that doesn’t have to do with Mailata perfecting his craft at a position and a sport he began to learn from scratch just a little more than a year ago. Because thinking about anything else would be counterproductive to him getting on the field in the first place.

That mindset is even more crucial to his development now that he has been asked to switch from the left to the right side following the decision to draft left tackle of the future Andre Dillard in the first round this year. And it’s why Mailata vowed on Wednesday after practice at minicamp not to be in coach Doug Pederson’s ear about playing running back the next time he’s activated on game day.

“I will not,” he said. “I will not. I’ll be [focusing] on my game plan and what we’ve been practicing that week, game-plan-wise. So I remember when I first got [activated for a game], I’ve never been more focused in mind. So I’ll definitely be focused on what we’re planning to do and sticking to that game plan.”

Mailata actually dressed for three games last season but never saw any action — not even on special teams, which is a rarity in a league that allows only 46 players to be active for games. Typically everyone except the backup quarterback is used.

For as gigantic (6-foot-8, 350 pounds) and powerful and athletic as the Australian is, it’s sometimes hard to remember that the sport is still new to him. So the Eagles won’t thrust him into an NFL game until he’s absolutely ready or there’s a personnel emergency that forces their hand.

For his part, Mailata takes it as seriously as the team. Committed and focused, he remains in proper awe of what’s in front of him and humbled by everything that’s happened to get him to this point.

“The mentality to play this sport and the physicality to play this sport are married together,” he said. “And it takes a different kind of beast to play the O-line, man.”

That’s what Mailata is working on, and he says the difference between this year and last is like “day and night.”

More like 400 days and nights, with possibly another 400 to go, according to offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland

Stoutland loves what Mailata brings to the table. In fact, if it wasn’t for Stoutland, the Eagles probably wouldn’t have even taken Mailata in the seventh round of last year’s NFL draft. They did only after Stoutland convinced executive director of football operations Howie Roseman and then vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas that Mailata was draft-worthy.

Yet the coach is realistic when it comes to evaluating his biggest student’s development.

Stoutland compared Mailata’s progress to someone learning to play the piano. After one year, a reasonable goal would be to have the basics down and maybe a little more. But even the most gifted student wouldn’t be ready for Carnegie Hall.

“I mean, we’re talking terminology, we’re talking footwork, we’re talking surface and blocks, using your hands, keeping your head out,” Stoutland said. “All these things. So [unlike] the normal college guy that maybe plays through Pop Warner, you know, high school, he didn’t do any of that stuff. So I had to realize this as we were coaching and literally go back to Day 1.

“It’s been a fun process, believe me. And I will give him a lot of credit for it. He has made progress, I mean big progress — much more than a lot of other guys because he had so much more to learn. And now I’m very proud of what he’s done, moving over to the right side to see that progress.

“When I explain something to him [now], he gets it. ... Whereas before, I think it was a little fuzzy.”

When it comes to the big picture, Mailata has had excellent vision from the start.

“I hold really high expectations,” he said, "so I get really frustrated whenever I don’t do the tasks that they ask me to do. So it’s really difficult when you’re trying to reach into the toolbox – you know, I have all the tools – sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn’t."

Those kinks can and will be worked out through repetition, Mailata believes.

That’s why has no plans to stop.

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